Polenta with Herb Roasted Tomatoes

At the Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market this week you'll find pastured meats and eggs from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm, cut flowers from Tiger Lily Art Company, and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, including lots of tomatoes.

When tomatoes are at their summer sweetest, I love eating them lightly roasted with fresh herbs. As a vehicle for their fragrant juices, I decided to make some polenta, using this Bon Appetit recipe for Instant pot polenta cacio e pepe. 

While the polenta cooked (in just 9 minutes), I roasted a pan full of cherry tomatoes with rosemary. Then I sprinkled on some more delicate herbs (chives, thyme, and oregano), poured over the polenta and ran it under the broiler. At this point, one could let it cool and harden and cut wedges to eat, but we couldn't wait for that and instead ate it as a delicious porridge spooned into bowls.

Polenta with Herb Roasted Tomatoes

serves four

1 cup polenta 
4 cups water
1 tsp salt
generous amount of black pepper
2 Tbsp butter (divided)
1/2 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 spring rosemary
several springs chives, thyme, and oregano

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and put in a cast iron or oven safe skillet to warm. Rinse and the cherry tomatoes and herbs. Chop the rosemary leaves. Separately chop the other herbs.

2. In an Instant Pot, combine the polenta, water, salt and pepper. Cook on high pressure for 9 minutes and then release the pressure manually. Whisk the contents of the pot, adding 1 Tbsp of butter and the grated cheese, until it is a thick porridge. One can also prepare the polenta on the stove top like this.

3. While the polenta is cooking, remove the warm skillet from the oven. Put 1 Tbsp of butter into the skillet to melt and then add the cherry tomatoes and chopped rosemary and roll around to coat. Roast the cherry tomatoes for about 12 minutes until they have collapsed and released some juices.

4. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the setting to broil. Sprinkle the other chopped herbs onto the cherry tomatoes. Use a spatula to layer the cooked polenta onto the roasted tomatoes. Put under the broiler for about 5 minutes until the top is golden brown. Serve immediately, spooning into dishes, or allow the pan to cook until the polenta has hardened and can be cut into wedges. Enjoy.

Kohlrabi Green Tart with Polenta Crust

A recent Good Food Easy CSA installment came with a hefty stack of kohlrabi leaves, an ingredient uncommon enough to render the internet at rather a loss for recipe recommendations. I decided to treat them like greens, but respect their cabbage-ness by pairing them with sweet cooked onions (like this favorite cabbage dish), and to nestle the whole mixture into a tart.

And because we have plenty of polenta from our Lonesome Whistle Farm CSA, I decided to make a polenta crust from this recipe from Maria Speck's Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. The tart crust is basically cooked polenta, with some grated parmesan cheese and an egg for extra integrity. The recipe calls for cooking the polenta in broth, so I made a quick broth with some leek greens and the kohlrabi leaf stems, but I think water would be fine as well. 

I made a couple of mini tarts for the kohlrabi leaf doubters in the house, one of whom opted for a parsley pesto topping while the other went with a take on the classic tomato and cheese pizza. For the rest of us, the kohlrabi green tart was a big hit, and I'm certain I will be making variants with other greens throughout the spring.

Kohlrabi Green Tart with Polenta Crust

Make one 10-inch tart

Crust from Maria Speck's Artichoke Tart with Polenta Crust
1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups polenta
1/2 cup (about 2.5 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese 
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring the broth and water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the salt. Slowly add the polenta in a thin stream, whisking constantly, and continue whisking for 30 seconds. Decrease the heat to low and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every few minutes to keep the polenta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Stir in the cheese, egg and pepper.

2. Grease a 10-inch tart pan or cake pan with olive oil. Have a glass of cold water ready. Spoon the polenta into the pan and press it out, pushing it up the sides. Dip a wooden spoon or your hands in the cold water to help the polenta along. Set aside for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375 F. Then form an even rim about 3/4 of an inch thick with moist fingers, pressing firmly. Don't worry if the crust looks rustic.

3. Prebake the crust for 20 minutes until it has started to brown on the edges. Meanwhile, prepare the filling

Kohlrabi green filling
6-8 kohlrabi leaves (or substitute collard greens or chard)
1 medium onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup ricotta (or use Greek yogurt like Maria Speck's original recipe)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
salt to taste and plenty of freshly ground pepper

1. Cut the center rib from each kohlrabi leaf and cut the leaves into 1 inch ribbons. Peel and dice the onion. Heat a large skillet over medium low heat, then heat the oil and sauté the onions with a pinch of salt, until they are very soft and glassy, about 10 minutes. Add the kohlrabi greens and sauté with another pinch of salt for about 5 minutes until they have turned a darker green and started to soften. Remove from heat.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, eggs, a good pinch of salt and pepper until well-combined. Fold in the sautéed greens. Pour the filling into the prepared polenta tart and spread evenly. Sprinkle with the swiss cheese.

2. Bake the tart until the top turns golden brown and the filling is set, about 40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for at least 20 minutes. The tart can be prepared up to one day ahead.

New England Spider Cake

Christmas brought a few unexpected delights this year, including discovering this decorated tree during a stroll through Hendrick's Park. Another treat was this New England Spider Cake that we had for a late Christmas breakfast (after fortifying ourselves earlier with stollen). I adapted this recipe, using corn flour, polenta, and soft white flour from our newest CSA installment from Lonesome Whistle Farm, and we ate it topped with poached quince. This cake is just the thing to slip in the oven, along with a tray of bacon, to bake while opening presents. The final dish is a kind of cornmeal spoon bread, and apparently gets is name from the spidery cracks emanating from the center of cream, which is itself an unexpected custardy treat.

New England Spider Cake

adapted from Jonathan Reynolds from NYT Cooking

1/2 cup corn flour (I used Lonesome Whistle Farm's corn flour)
1/2 cup coarse corn meal (I used Lonesome Whistle Farm's polenta)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used Lonesome Whistle Farm's soft white wheat)
1/2 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a 12-inch cast iron skillet in the oven to warm.  Combine corn flour, cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Whisk eggs into the buttermilk. Stir into dry ingredients and set batter aside.

2. Remove the skillet from the oven and melt the butter in the hot skillet. Pour in the batter. Pour the cream into the center, slide the skillet into the oven and bake until golden brown on top, about 45 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve warm.

Orange Upside Down Polenta Cake

Our latest installment of Lonesome Whistle Farm polenta inspired me to experiment with this grain in desserts. Searching around, I came across a genre of recipes for Italian polenta cake made with almond meal and often with citrus. The red hues of this colorful corn reminded me of ruby red blood oranges, and its coarse texture seemed at home in a skillet, so I decide to make a rustic upside down cake in my cast iron pan.

I used an amalgam of a polenta cake from Nigella Lawson and an orange caramel layer from Yotam Ottolenghi. I have to admit to being a novice when it comes to caramelizing sugar (I should have watched this first), and tried to take a short cut by melting the sugar in the skillet, but my caramel developed some crystals in the process. Despite this setback, I persevered, because a few sugar crystals didn't seem so bad in the grand scheme of things, and really, who could resist a cake as lovely as this on one side, 

and this on the other. It had a coarse and slightly crumbly texture that suited its skillet inception, but was moist and rich and busting with orange flavor. This cake will definitely become another regular use for our polenta supply.

Orange Upside Down Polenta Cake
adapted from recipes by Nigella Lawson and Yotam Ottolenghi 

for the caramel orange layer 
1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
2 blood oranges

for the cake
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter
1 cup superfine sugar
2 cups almond meal/flour
3/8 cup coarse polenta
3/8 cup fine cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
zest from 2 blood oranges

1. Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Wash the oranges and zest them with a microphone grater. Reserve the zest and cut off the peels and pith. Slice them into 5 or 6 slices perpendicular to the axis of the sections and remove any pith in the interior.

2. Make the caramel orange layer. In a small, clean, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water and a dribble of juice from slicing the prongs. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, and then STOP stirring. Wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.

3. Remove from the heat and add butter, swirling pan until incorporated, then carefully but quickly pour caramel into a well-seasoned 10 inch cast iron skillet (if in doubt, oil your skillet a bit). Tilt the skillet to coat evenly and arrange the orange slices in the caramel with the largest slice in the center and other slices surrounding it in a circle.

4. For the cake, beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, either by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon, or using a freestanding mixer or food processor.

5. Mix together the almond meal, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while. Finally, beat in the lemon zest and pour, spoon or scrape the mixture into your caramel and orange lined skillet. 

6. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. If the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cook for about five minutes. Place a large plate over the skillet, confidently invert the skillet and allow the cake to slide onto the plate. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve. 

Easy Soft Polenta with Olive Oil Simmered Leeks

Some recipes are intuitive and transparent, like throwing together a fresh salad with seasonal produce, and they serve as a helpful reminder or inspiration. Other recipes pique our interest because they seem mysterious, improbable, and opaque. There's a special pleasure that comes from suspending one's best judgement, trying such a recipe, and having it succeed. Here are two such recipes from Paula Wolfert's The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, a manifesto on the pleasures of slow cooked foods. The first recipe if for oven-baked polenta, which I was inspired to try with our ample supply of polenta from our Lonesome Whistle Farm CSA. Stirring your polenta continuously over a hot stove can be rewarding (and bicep building). But if you have time, and especially if you already have your oven on for a roast or stew, Wolfert's method is remarkably effortless and produces deliciously creamy polenta from an unpromising-looking sedentary sludge of water and cornmeal.

With my polenta and a Fair Valley Farm ham baking in the oven, and no stirring to occupy me, I got to flipping through Wolfert's cookbook and came across a recipe for slow cooked leeks and root vegetables simmered in olive oil that seemed perfect for my latest haul from Open Oak Farm's CSA. This recipe, which Wolfert described as "Mediterranean alchemy", offered the intrigue of a secret ingredient (a tablespoon of soaked rice) and an unusual cooking techniques (a parchment paper sealed pot). The final dish was a revelation: a meltingly sweet concoction of leeks and shallots that tempered the sharpness of a purple winter radish without cooking it to mush. And unexpectedly, the vegetables made a wonderful topping for the creamy polenta. The dinner was especially tasty resulting from the leisurely suspension of disbelief.

Oven-Baked Polenta

from Paula Wolfert's The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen
serves 6-8

2 cups polenta 
2 Tbsp butter or olive oil
2 tsp salt
8 cups cool water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large ovenproof pan, melt the butter or add the oil and swill to coat the bottom and sides. Combine the remaining ingredients and stir with a fork. Bake, uncovered for 1 hour and 20 minutes. 

2. Stir the polenta with a fork, season with additional salt to taste, and bake for about 10 more minutes, or to the desired consistency. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve warm. 

Note: Leftovers can be reheated in a microwave, mixing between heating, and the polenta will become creamy again.

Leeks Simmered in Olive Oil

from Paula Wolfert's The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen

2 pounds leeks
1/3 cup chopped onion or shallot
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced, or substitute other root vegetables such as turnips or winter radishes
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp rice
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon, or more to taste
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Clean the leeks thoroughly (I like to trim the roots and green tops and then cut them lengthwise and wash them, splayed open, under running water, then drain well.) Cut them into two inch lengths. 

2. Combine the onions, olive oil, and root vegetables in a heavy Dutch oven and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the leeks and sugar, cover with a sheet of parchment paper or foil and a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes (Leeks and root vegetables should cook in their own moisture. If necessary, add 1 Tbsp of water).

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, soak the rice in hot water for ten minutes. Drain.

4. Add the rice to the leeks. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, tightly covered, for 20 minutes longer.

5. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Wolfert recommend serving the leeks and vegetables at room temperature or chilled, but they are also delicious warm on top of polenta with grated parmesan cheese.

Baked Polenta with Mushrooms and Gorgonzola

In the last post I told you about using Lonesome Whistle Farm's polenta in skillet cornbread. The other dish I made right away with this rainbow of coarse cornmeal is one inspired by a baked polenta and gorgonzola recipe from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison. To contrast the sharp notes of the cheese, I used some earthy mushrooms, both fresh creminis and an assortment of dried ones. And to make the most of the flavors, I used the soaking liquid from the dried mushrooms as the broth for the polenta.

Admittedly, this dish is a bit involved. First you prepare a tomato sauce, saute your mushrooms, and stir your polenta into a thick mush. Then you need to let the polenta solidify before sliced it, layering it with the mushrooms, sauce, and cheese, and baking it into a pan of bubbling, pungent gooeyness. But each of the steps itself is easy and relaxing; nothing like the time sensitive last stages of getting warm turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy on the table for a hungry horde. So make this dish on a leisurely weekend day when you're ready for a break from turkey leftovers.

Baked Polenta with Mushrooms and Gorgonzola
serves 4 to 6

1 cup polenta
3 1/2 cups boiling water
2 ounces dried mushrooms such as porcini
6 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms
2 Tbsp olive oil for sauteing the mushrooms and more for oiling the pans
~2 cups simple tomato sauce  
4 ounces gorgonzola cheese
fresh parsley leaves

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in 3 1/2 cups of boiling water. After ten minutes, strain the mushroom broth through a fine mesh strainer into a medium pot (you will have about 3 cups), and reserve the rehydrated mushrooms. Heat the mushroom broth with a generous pinch of salt until it is boiling. Slowly pour the polenta grain into the pot in a narrow stream as you whisk. Adjust the heat to medium and stir the polenta with a wooden spoon for about 15 minutes, until it forms a thick, creamy mush that pulls away from the sides of the pan. Brush the inside of a loaf pan with olive oil and pour in the polenta. Let the polenta cool and harden (you can do this a day ahead). 

2. Prepare a simple tomato sauce with a 32 ounce can of tomatoes or a quart of fresh peeled romas.

3. Brush the cremini mushrooms clean and cut them into slices. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet and saute the mushrooms with a generous pinch of salt and grinding of black pepper until their juices are released and then evaporated. Chop the rehydrated mushrooms.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the bottom of a 9 x 12 inch baking dish with about one cup of tomato sauce. Sprinkle over the chopped rehydrated mushrooms. Unmold the hardened polenta and cut it into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange strips of polenta along the bottom of the baking dish. Drizzle the remaining tomato sauce over the polenta (you can leave some parts uncovered). Then sprinkle the cooked cremini mushrooms over and finally crumble the gorgonzola cheese on top. 

5. Bake the polenta for about 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the gorgonzola has melted. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve warm.

Skillet Polenta Cornbread

In the bounty of a Thanksgiving feast, cornbread is always a welcome addition. Here I adapted my favorite skillet cornbread, from Cook's Illustrated, to a combination of Lonesome Whistle Farm's gorgeous multicolored polenta and freshly ground corn flour. The polenta gives it texture and crunch, while the corn flour keeps it light, and both provide an intense corn flavor.

As your cast iron skillet warms in the oven, mix up a polenta mush and whisk it into a buttermilk slurry. Then melt the butter (or bacon lard) in the skillet, quickly incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter, stir in the melted fat, and pour the batter back into the hot skillet. The batter will sizzle as it hits the cast iron, releasing the fragrant smell of toasted corn. 

This recipe calls for an 8 inch cast iron skillet, which I don't own. I found that doubling the recipe works well for my 10 inch pan (with an extra 5 minutes for baking). About half the recipe will fill my cast iron corn mold, and the other half makes a cute 6 inch skillet  bread. In any shape or size, this cornbread is delicious with a slab of cheddar cheese or slathered with homemade jam, like my husband's quince, hardy kiwi, and raspberry concoction here. A bite of this bread will make you thankful for the bounty of our fertile valley.

Skillet Polenta Cornbread

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Southern Style Cornbread (publish May, 1998)

Makes one 8 inch skillet bread (double recipe for a 10 inch skillet)

2/3 cup corn flour

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup polenta
1/3 cup boiling water
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter (or 4 Tbsp bacon lard)

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place an 8 inch cast iron skillet (or two cast iron corn muffin molds on baking sheets) in the oven.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients of corn flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

3. In a large glass or ceramic bowl, our the boiling water over the polenta and whisk to make a stiff mush. Slowly whisk in the buttermilk, making sure there are no lumps, and then whisk in the egg.

4. When the oven is hot, take the skillet out of the oven and place it over medium low heat on the stove. Melt the butter or bacon lard. If using muffin molds, take them from the oven and brush them generously with melted fat. Working quickly, stir the dry ingredients into the polenta mixture just until they are incorporated. Then pour the melted butter into the batter, stir quickly, pour the batter into the skillet or molds, and put them back in the oven.

5. Bake until the corn bread is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean, about 20 minutes for a skillet bread and 15 minute for muffins. Turn the bread or muffins onto a wire rack, cool for five minutes, and serve warm.